


The Kid With Orange Hair

by orphan_account



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, But no one dies, Hanahaki Disease, M/M, Sad Ending, i wrote this like a year ago and i'm finally posting it lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2020-01-13 08:29:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18465250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Kageyama gets hanahaki disease. But it can't be for Hinata, right?Right?





	The Kid With Orange Hair

~~~~~ means time skip; ***** means pov shift

 

When Kageyama first coughs up an orange petal, he thinks nothing of it; he probably swallowed it without noticing while racing Hinata to the gym that morning. He drops it in a nearby trash can and continues on his way to first period. 

~~~~~

Volleyball practice ends at six o’clock every day, but usually Kageyama stays until at least seven, tossing to Hinata, who never seems to get tired. He doesn’t mind; if anything he enjoys it. Hinata is not only the first spiker who can keep up with Kageyama’s admittedly rather demanding tosses, but also the person who Kageyama considers his first real friend. 

Today, however, Daichi makes sure he goes home as soon as practice is over; he must have noticed the time Kageyama had to excuse himself, though he tried to keep it quiet. At least Daichi didn’t notice the thin orange petal that Kageyama crushed immediately after it fell into his hands. 

He knows that coughing up petals is the first sign of  _ hanahaki byou _ , but what Kageyama can’t understand is why he is exhibiting it. He isn’t in love with anyone! Wouldn’t he know if he was? And yet he feels that telltale itch in his throat, another petal in his mouth. 

His phone buzzes. 

_ 6:08 pm _

_ Hinata: R u ok? U don’t usually go home this early who’s gonna toss to me now?!?!! _

_ Kageyama: It’s just a cough. I’ll be fine tomorrow _

_ Hinata: :-) _

There’s a small smile on Kageyama’s face as he continues walking. 

~~~~~

The next morning, Kageyama wakes up early after fitful sleep and walks towards his and Hinata’s meeting place. He still doesn’t know why he keeps coughing up petals, more specifically,  _ for whom  _ he’s coughing up petals. Before he can think too deeply about this, however, he sees Hinata and his  _ fucking ridiculous  _ hair. His throat begins to tickle and he feels more petals on the roof of his mouth. 

They’re coming up more than one at a time; the disease is progressing fast. Either that, or it’s particularly strong at the moment. But there’s no reason he would be feeling noticeably more in love. Unless… no. That can’t be right. He quickly coughs out the petals and tosses them away. 

“Kageyamaaa!” Hinata’s voice tears through the air as he runs past Kageyama, who of course sprints after him. 

~~~~~

After Friday practice, the Karasuno volleyball team can usually be found outside Ukai’s store, having bought some sort of snack. Kageyama pretends to eat a pork bun and steadfastly ignores the petals making their way up his throat. The urge to cough is quite strong, and he almost does after he is startled out of a stupor by Hinata loudly exclaiming about something, making extensive use of the very specific technical terms  _ gwah  _ and  _ pah _ . He feels a fond smile working its way over his face, and he can’t shove down the stupid thought that it just might be Hinata that’s making these stupid flowers grow in his chest. 

~~~~~

The clock reads 11:43p.m, and Kageyama can’t sleep. His parents drifted off a long time ago, and they assumed he, like any sane person, would be asleep at this hour. But the flowers keep him awake. The intervals between the coughs are just short enough to prevent him from sleep. As the petals begin to litter the floor, he sweeps them into the trash. 

When he wakes up in the morning, having slept for four to five hours, two petals seem to glare at him from his pillow. Angrily, Kageyama crumples them in his fist and throws them away. 

Kageyama has always liked flowers. They’re unrestrained and vibrant. They’re colourful and beautiful and they’re growing in his lungs. 

He gets out of bed and makes for the bathroom, only to double over on his way there, coughing. The coughs aren’t frighteningly deep, but they’re definitely audible and not at all shallow. Crumpled orange petals litter the floor, and Kageyama manages to pick all of them up before another fit of coughing wracks him. 

“Tobio-chan!” his mother calls from the kitchen. “Are you alright?”  _ Shit, she must have heard the coughing.  _ He starts to answer with a protest that he is fine, only to inadvertently cut himself off. Two petals drift to the floor, and more are clenched in Kageyama’s fist; he’d managed to catch most of them this time. Footsteps sound, gradually getting louder, and he tries desperately to conceal the flowers. 

Let it be known that Kageyama Tobio is not good at thinking under pressure. He hurriedly drops the petals he was holding into the toilet and flushed it. Too late, he remembers the two that he left on the hallway floor. By the time Kageyama rushes out to where he dropped them, his mother is already standing there, a sad expression on her face. 

“You’re not going to school today, Tobio-chan. I’m scheduling you a doctor’s appointment,” she says, looking blankly at the vibrant orange spots on the brown floor. Finally, she looks up at him, and asks, “How long?”

“It’s been about a week,” he responds, his tone flat and mechanical. 

“Tobio…  _ who? _ ” she asks, looking into Kageyama’s face, and he can hear her voice break. 

“I-I don’t know,” he says.  _ Don’t think about Hinata do not think about Hinata you’re not in love with him Jesus Christ. _ Tears fill his mother’s eyes, and she pulls him into a hug. Awkwardly, Kageyama returns the embrace. 

~~~~~ 

“At this stage, there are three outcomes,” says the kindly-looking doctor. “If the person who is causing the  _ hanahaki  _ reciprocates your feelings, the disease will cure itself, but if they don’t and the disease is left to run its course, the flowers will suffocate you.”

“And the third option?” asks Kageyama. The doctor hands him a brochure that she retrieved from the plastic brochure panel on the wall. “There is a surgery to cut the flowers out of your lungs in the event that your feelings are unrequited. However, afterwards, you would have no memory of the feelings. You would know the person, but you would feel nothing for them.” 

Kageyama stares at the glossy surface of the pamphlet, whose front displays a picture of a chest X-ray with painted-on flowers. “How long until I need to make a decision?” he asks.

“Well, the disease takes about a month to finish its progression, and you said it’s been going on for a week now?” He nods. “Well, I would recommend making a decision as soon as possible. By the beginning of the fourth week, the chances of you surviving the surgery are very slim.” He nods again. “Is there anything else you want to talk about?” 

“No,” he says, getting up from his chair. 

~~~~~

_ 12:23 p.m. _

_ Hinata: Why rn’t u at school r u sick? _

_ Kageyama: I’m fine _

_ Hinata: Ok  _

_ Hinata: C u tmw!! _

Someone actually noticed his absence? Before volleyball practice? Colour Kageyama  _ very  _ surprised. As if on cue, his throat begins to itch, and then he coughs, deeper than before. Instead of a few petals, it’s a flower bud that falls from his mouth.  _ Dammit.  _

~~~~~

Kageyama’s theory that the disease gets stronger whenever he thinks about Hinata is not being disproved anytime soon. In fact, he’s managed to validate it even more - more flower buds forcing themselves out of his lungs whenever he so much as thinks about the new quick, which he had been practicing specifically for Hinata. Instead of feeling any form of relief at finally discovering who was causing his disease, however, Kageyama only felt a greater sense of  _ I’m screwed.  _

Hinata can’t possibly love him back. His chest begins spasming, and he dashes for the bathroom for what seems like the third time that day. 

~~~~~

It’s been another week. Now, instead of orange, the flowers come out spotted red with blood. Lunch period that day finds Kageyama slumped over on the floor of a bathroom stall, the toilet swimming with flower buds, bright orange and pinkish red. He feels like utter crap. He’s slept maybe three hours over the last three nights, and it’s starting to show in the dark circles under his eyes. 

Kageyama’s performance in class is declining, not that he cares, but more importantly, so is his performance at practice. And people are noticing. During a water break, Daichi and Suga pull him aside to ask if he’s okay, and despite many protests on his part, they still don’t look convinced. Afterwards, when everybody leaves and the gym goes quiet, Hinata turns to Kageyama and says, “Kageyama, you haven’t been sleeping, have you?”

Kageyama goes into panic mode; his thoughts become a steady stream of  _ Shit shit shit I’m gonna vomit up flowers and he’s going to fucking find out oh shit _ . He manages to compose himself and respond with his usual, “Why wouldn’t I be sleeping, dumbass?!” It doesn’t have any of its usual venom behind it, and they both know it. 

Hinata sighs, and Kageyama feels petals covering his throat, forming a waxy carpet over the roof of his mouth, and it takes every ounce of willpower he has not to cough. “I-I need to go,” he stutters. Before Hinata can respond, Kageyama is out of the gym and behind a hedge, coughing up a mess of blood and flowers. 

He doesn’t bother with cleaning them up; he sprints in the direction of his house.

~~~~~

_ 8:17 p. m. _

_ Hinata: I found the flowers _

_ Hinata: You have hanahaki don’t you? _

It was a somber time when Hinata used correct spelling in his texts.

_ Hinata: It’ll be okay _

_ Hinata: You can’t go and die on me  _

_ Hinata: Kageyama please get treatment _

~~~~~

It’s two in the morning, and Kageyama lays on his bed, seriously considering the surgery. Hinata wanted him to get treatment. Didn’t that imply he thought Kageyama couldn’t possibly be successful with a love confession?

~~~~~

The next day, during morning break, Hinata comes up to Kageyama as he stands alone in the courtyard, watching the other students talk and laugh over the smallest of things. 

“Hi,” he begins, not exactly sure what Hinata wants to say. 

“Hi!” responds Hinata, too fast to be normal in conversation. “Kageyama, about what happened yesterday…”

“We don’t need to talk about it. It’s fine.” Kageyama purposely keeps his gaze trained away from Hinata. 

“But, Kageyama, there was blood with the-”

“Shut  _ up!  _ It’s fine! I’ll handle it!”

“How are you going to handle it? Are you getting treatment? Are you planning to confess anytime soon? Or are you just going to  _ give up _ ? The Kageyama I know wouldn’t do that!”

“Kageyama, you need to do something about this!” Hinata is still going on, and Kageyama’s had enough. His chest feels like it’s going to burst from the compressed flowers and thorns, piercing his organs. Kageyama isn’t sure whether he’s going to have a panic attack or start screaming. Petals creep up into his throat, and it’s all he can do to not hack them out. 

“Just  _ stay the fuck away from me!”  _ he exclaims, much louder than necessary, and with that, two red-spotted flowers fly from his mouth onto the grass. Hinata stares, his brown eyes moving from Kageyama to the flowers and back again. And Kageyama runs. 

~~~~~

The clock’s hands show that it is just past 3am, and Kageyama is once again pondering his situation. The real question here is whether he wants to return to the friendless genius he was in middle school or die. And he needs to decide quickly. It’s been three weeks since the flowers sprouted in his lungs. 

While Kageyama certainly values the changes he’s gone through, mainly thanks to Hinata, he knows reverting to his “tyrant king” phase is a better outcome than dying. It doesn’t matter that he won’t ever be able to feel the way he does again. It doesn’t matter that Hinata will never so much as  _ think  _ about him that way, let alone love him back. 

As if on cue, Kageyama begins to choke out orange flowers soaked with blood and saliva. At this point, he doesn’t even bother rushing to the bathroom, he just watches as the middle of his bedspread slowly turns red and orange. It would be beautiful if it weren’t his sadness and his blood painting the sheets. 

There’s a strange tightness behind Kageyama’s eyes, and he’s resisting the urge to scream in frustration at himself for being so stupid as to fall this deep in love with  _ Hinata _ , of all people. Scrunching his eyes shut, he wills himself to think of something,  _ anything  _ else. It’s futile, of course. His throat feels like he’s trying to swallow a lump of something that just won’t slide down, as opposed to the usual rawness that’s become a constant. 

Kageyama begins to shake with all his repressed anger at the flowers, at Hinata, at the  _ pointlessness  _ of him doing anything that could possibly make it better. He’s hiccuping out flowers almost without stopping, and no matter how tightly he screws his eyes shut, salty tears force their way down his cheeks, until eventually he gives up trying to press them back. 

He sits there all night, watching the clock tick and the sky slowly brighten in between spasms. Kageyama’s face is dirty with the residue of tear tracks, and his chin is covered in crusted blood and saliva.

~~~~~

“Mom, I want to get the surgery,” Kageyama tells her as soon as he sees her. She nearly drops a mug of green tea before asking him if he’s completely sure, and he assures her she is. As she is on the phone scheduling the appointment, Kageyama soaks some towels in hot water and proceeds to clean up the mess of flower chunks in his bedroom, forcing himself to be calm and methodical. 

Kageyama’s mother tells him the appointment is for tomorrow morning, and that he doesn’t have to attend school that day, but he resolves to go anyway, even if it means carefully avoiding Hinata. 

~~~~~

Hinata doesn’t try to approach Kageyama at all, only watches him sadly when he thinks Kageyama won’t notice. 

_ 12:36 p.m. _

_ Hinata: Are you okay? _

_ Kageyama: Yes.  _

_ Hinata: I’m sorry about what happened. _

_ Kageyama: Don’t worry about it.  _

_ Hinata: Are you sure? _

_ Kageyama: I told you I don’t want to talk about this. _

~~~~~

_ 3:13 p.m. _

_ Sugawara: Kageyama what’s wrong? _

_ Kageyama: Nothing. Why do you ask? _

_ Sugawara: I’m not an idiot, and neither is Daichi. You look like you haven’t slept for a week, and you’re avoiding Hinata. Your best friend.  _

_ Kageyama: I’m going to take care of it tomorrow.  _

_ Sugawara: I’m worried about you. Please don’t do anything you’ll regret later, okay? _

_ Kageyama: Alright.  _

He skips volleyball practice again. 

~~~~~

The next morning, a Thursday, Kageyama’s mother drives him to the hospital, and they wait for the doctor. Soon, they call his name and he is ushered into a room. It is almost completely white, and the smell of disinfectant permeates the air. Kageyama is given a brief explanation of the procedure, and then they inject him with an anesthetic. 

~~~~~

The first thing Kageyama notices when he wakes up is that he feels strangely empty. Probably because every trace of plant life has been removed from his body. He forces his eyes open, and sees his mother sitting on one of the chairs near the bed, watching him anxiously. 

When she notices him stirring, she immediately stands up and gives him a hug - a little awkward due to the fact that he’s sitting in a hospital bed, but a hug nonetheless. “How-how long have I been out?” he managed to get out. 

“It’s about four in the afternoon now,” she tells Kageyama. “I should call the doctor now.” He nods, and she leaves. 

~~~~~

The next morning, Kageyama wakes up after a night of blessedly uninterrupted sleep, the first time in nearly three weeks he’s not been kept awake by plants climbing his throat. Why didn’t he do this sooner? He skips school for a week, to recover. 

~~~~~

Although his mother gives him the option to spend the next few days at home as well, Kageyama decides to go to school the next Thursday. He goes to morning practice, where he gets concerned looks from Suga, Daichi, Yamaguchi, and someone whose hair is too bright an orange to be natural. Kageyama thinks his name is Hinata. 

Concern gives way to confusion when he begins practicing like normal, no more quietly excusing himself to cough up flowers. Afterwards, he helps clean up, and without a word, goes to class. The day passes normally; he gets a packet of make-up work from each teacher and is told to copy notes from a friend. 

At lunch, he asks Yamaguchi if he can borrow his notebook, and he complies, but not before giving Kageyama another confused look. “Kageyama, why aren’t you talking to Hinata?” 

Kageyama blinks. “Why should I be?” 

“He’s your best friend. You didn’t even look at him when the teacher asked us to pair up.”

“M-my best friend?” He knows what that means, but the concept itself is foreign. He’s never had anyone who he would even consider a real friend, let alone a best friend. Yamaguchi is looking at him sadly, and even Tsukishima evinces a modicum of concern. He hurriedly thanks Yamaguchi for the notebook and returns to his seat. 

Kageyama glances more than once at Hinata - the orange-haired one from practice. He’s short, but has incredible jumping power. He is also currently talking to three others from the class - of course he’d be the energetic social type. How could he have ever been best friends with  _ Kageyama _ ? Why would he want to?

~~~~~

Kageyama’s daily life soon becomes as dull as it was before he ever coughed up a flower petal. Suga and Daichi have stopped trying to surreptitiously whisper about him when they think he’s not listening, Yamaguchi has stopped shooting him strange looks. The only thing that’s even the slightest bit off is Hinata. 

The first day he had come back, Hinata had badgered him almost ceaselessly for tosses, but he seems to be actively avoiding Kageyama now. Kageyama had probably offended him somehow. 

*****

When Kageyama comes back to school after missing a whole week, Hinata assumes he got the surgery. He’s not going to die. He’s forgotten his feelings for whoever planted those flowers in his lungs. A terrible guilt is also eating away at him - he’s relieved that Kageyama will never remember those feelings. Hinata tries to convince himself that it’s just because he doesn’t want their friendship to deteriorate, but it’s definitely more than that.

But if Kageyama was supposed to forget about whoever he was in love with, then why is he suddenly treating Hinata the way he had when they inadvertently met in the Karasuno gym on the first day of high school? He talks to Yamaguchi, Tsukishima, and all the other guys normally; the only one who seems to have gotten on his bad side was Hinata. Well, what’s new? 

~~~~~

Hinata decides to confront Kageyama after practice. The plan: ask Kageyama to walk home with him, and then on the way there, talk about why Kageyama is acting like they’re rivals again. He’ll probably get insulted, but at least that will be better than detachment. 

~~~~~

Hinata shoves his hands into his pockets as he and Kageyama walk along the road in complete silence. It’s awkward as hell, and finally he bursts out, “Why are you acting so weird?!”

Kageyama gives him a puzzled look. “I’m not.” 

“What do you mean you’re not? You don’t toss to me anymore, and you’ve completely given up on the new quick! And you’ve stopped talking to me too!”

“What do you mean, the new quick?” 

“The new quick attack, the one that Ukai’s grandpa taught us! But my point is, why are you acting like the Tyrant King?” Hinata is visibly frustrated, and he’s borderline yelling. 

Kageyama stops walking altogether and turns to stare at Hinata. “ _ What  _ did you call me?” 

Hinata begins to angrily respond, “I said you were-” before he realizes that Kageyama heard him the first time. “I just meant-”

“Save it,” Kageyama snaps, picking up his pace to get away from Hinata. 

~~~~~

Hinata had resigned himself to not talking to Kageyama again, but apart from the sadness and anger, there was also a growing confusion. Why had Kageyama pretended to not even remember that they were best friends? That he was acting completely normally? Was he  _ that _ angry at Hinata? 

He wouldn’t do that, though. He’d get angry, sure. Probably shout at Hinata. But feigned memory loss? It was odd, even for Kageyama. Unless he  _ actually didn’t remember _ . 

How could he have forgotten? The only way Kageyama would forget something about volleyball was if he was somehow  _ forced  _ to. Hinata racked his brain trying to figure out what could have forced the loss of those memories, and then it comes to him. The hanahaki surgery. 

The hanahaki surgery only affects memories of the person you love, though. And Kageyama had been acting oddly around Hinata all week. Did that mean… the person who Kageyama had feelings for…  _ No. No way in hell would Kageyama have feelings for me _ . 

~~~~~

It’s some obscene hour of the night, and Hinata is tossing and turning between his sheets, trying to come to terms with the mess of realizations churning in his head. Kageyama’s forgotten all about their friendship - he doesn’t even remember Hinata at all. And that he was probably the cause of the hanahaki that had caused Kageyama all that suffering before. 

_ 2:29 am _

_ Hinata: I’m sorry for texting at this time but it’s really important!!! _

_ Hinata: Can I meet you before practice I need to talk to you about something _

_ Hinata: Thanks!! _

_ 6:12 am _

_ Sugawara: Sure, I’ll be in front of the gym. _

_ Sugawara: Are you okay? _

_ Hinata: Yeah I’m fine, thanks for coming early!! _

Hinata leaves the house twenty minutes before the usual time, and sees Suga waiting in front of the gym as promised. 

“Is everything alright?” he asks. Hinata nods, looking at the ground and fiddling with the hem of his jacket. 

“It’s just… I talked to Kageyama yesterday, and I asked him why he was acting so weird, and he didn’t remember  _ anything _ . And he got super mad when I, uh, I said he was being like the Tyrant King.” The last part comes out all in a rush; Hinata’s embarrassed about having brought that up. 

“But the thing is, no matter how angry he was, Kageyama wouldn’t pretend he didn’t remember me. And he would  _ never  _ forget something about volleyball either, but he had no idea what the new quick was! So… I was thinking about why he would’ve forgotten, and he got surgery for his hanahaki-” 

“Wait, Kageyama had hanahaki?!” Suga cuts him off. “That explains a lot…”

“Yeah, he did, and he got the surgery; that’s why he was absent for like a week! And the surgery makes you forget, and all the week after he was acting like he didn’t know me at all, so maybe…” Hinata trails off, not wanting to actually say it aloud because he doesn’t quite believe it. 

“You think maybe you were the person Kageyama had feelings for?” Suga finishes. 

Hinata nods at the ground, his cheeks going a bit pink. “I wanted to ask you because I’m probably totally wrong though.” 

“Actually, you’re probably right,” says Suga. “I mean, he probably didn’t have very many friends at Kitagawa Daiichi, judging by the way he talked to his teammates at the middle school tournament, so you were probably his first friend. It’s pretty likely that somewhere down the line he could’ve developed feelings for you.” 

_ Oh my god. How did I never realize this before?  _ “What do I do now?” Hinata asks, after a few moments. 

Suga looks at his shoes. “Hinata…” he begins, and Hinata knows it’s going to be bad news before Suga even says it. “I don’t think there’s anything you  _ can  _ do.”

~~~~~

On his first day back after the week-long absence, Hinata finds that he can’t remember the name of the primary setter on the volleyball team. How odd. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! hmu on twitter @thekidsarestray or tumblr @lee-yongbokchoy


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